UNIVERSITY  OF  VIRGINIA 
BULLETIN  OF  THE  SCHOOL  OF  LATIN 

No.  8 


sr 


Tp  <rVL 


*V  to  V'Jw  *  O 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  VERSE 


BY 


THOMAS  FITZHUGH 


Professor  of  Latin  in  the  University  of  Virginia 


JANUARY  I,  1915 


ANDERSON  BROTHERS 
UNIVERSITY  OF  VIRGINIA 
CHARLOTTESVILLE,  VA. 
U.  S.  A. 


PRICE  FIFTY  CENTS 


.  < ' 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  VERSE 


A  paper  read  before  the  Classical  Association  of  Virginia  on 

27th  of  November,  1914 


BY 


THOMAS  FITZHUGH 

»»> 

Professor  of  Latin  at  the  University  of  Virginia 


Copyright  1915 


BY 

Thomas  FitzHugh 


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The  Origin  of  Verse 


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The  search  for  origins  is  the  basal  impulse  of  scientific  think- 
—  ing.  Our  reflective  life  begins  with  the  consciousness  of  the 
inner  soul  as  the  origin  and  cause  of  the  outer  voluntary  act. 
This  dualism  of  cause  and  effect  becomes  the  fixed  norm  of  all 
our  thinking.  Our  application  of  the  principle  of  cause  and  effect 
to  the  outer  world  is  a  conclusion  by  analogy  from  our  inner  ex¬ 
perience  of  causality.  Hence  the  fundamental  dualism  of  our 
world-view :  energy  and  matter,  life  and  the  organism,  soul  and 
body,  God  and  the  universe. 

The  great  thinkers  of  Greece,  those  world-paragons  of  spir¬ 
itual  normality,  inaugurated  the  philosophy  and  science  of  In- 
doeuropean  man  with  such  inquiry  into  origins.  Aristotle,  who 
rounded  out  the  dome  of  classic  thought,  gives  definite  expres¬ 
sion  to  the  importance  of  this  quest  in  a  characteristic  utterance 
in  the  Sophistici  Elenchi :  “The  most  important  stage  in  every¬ 
thing  is  the  origin.  Hence  too  it  is  the  hardest  to  see,  for  it  is 
as  insignificant  in  outer  appearance  as  it  is  mighty  in  its  potential¬ 
ity.  But  when  once  discovered,  subsequent  addition  and  ampli¬ 
fication  becomes  easier.” 

One  of  the  sublimest  and  most  spiritual  of  those  Greek  the¬ 
ories  of  origin,  with  which  the  history  of  Occidental  thought  be¬ 
gins,  was  the  philosophy  of  Pythagoras  of  Samos  in  the  sixth 
century  before  Christ.  Pythagoras  found  in  number  the  funda¬ 
mental  secret  of  the  divine  world-order,  the  origin  of  all  things. 
A  principle  so  beautiful  and  so  thoroughly  Hellenic  could  not 
fail  of  its  influence  upon  Plato,  and  through  Plato  upon  his  pupil 
Aristotle,  who  makes  a  profound  application  of  it  in  explaining 
the  nature  of  rhythm  in  prose  and  verse.  According  to  Aristotle, 
rhythm  is  a  familiar  ordered  count  applied  to  the  scheme  of 
speech.  The  context  in  the  Rhetoric  implies  a  simple  duplica- 
tional  or  tripudic  count,  that  is  a  one-two :  one-two,  or  one-two- 
three,  numbering  of  the  rhythmical  elements  of  speech.  The 


^Reprinted  from  the  University  of  Virginia  Alumni  Bulletin  for 
January,  1915. 


43284 


4 


Thomas  FitzHuch 


purpose  of  this  paper  is  to  show  the  astonishing  applicability  of 
this  simple  count  principle  to  explain  the  origin  of  Indoeuropean 
verse ;  that  is,  to  show  that  Indoeuropean  verse  had  its  origin  in 
such  a  simple  counting  of  words  by  twos  and  threes,  giving  rise 
to  the  two  original  types  of  short  verse,  the  verse  of  four  words 
and  the  verse  of  three. 

I  shall  illustrate  my  doctrine  from  the  two  most  important  and 
at  the  same  time  the  two  most  obscure  bodies  of  early  Indo¬ 
european  verse,  Old-Latin  and  Old-Irish.  The  mighty  Italico- 
Keltic  stock  occupied  in  ancient  times  a  large  part  of  Europe. 
While  the  Italic  branch  was  confined  to  the  limits  of  Italy,  the 
Kelts  were  spread  through  western  and  southern  Europe.  Both 
peoples  stand  out  among  the  nations  of  antiquity  as  peculiarly 
tenacious  of  habit  and  custom.  Hence  it  is  no  surprise  to  the 
scholar  to  find  them  preserving  down  the  ages  and  well  into  the 
dawn  of  history  the  simple  original  verse-  of  the  Indoeuropean 
home.  And  yet  no  one  can  resist  the  feeling  of  startled  surprise 
at  finding  the  same  verse  among  the  early  Irish  Christians  in 
the  Tar  north  which  was  in  regular  use  among  the  Italic  stocks 
before  the  invasion  of  Greek  poetry  and  art, — in  a  word,  to  find 
the  old  Latin  Saturnian  of  prehistoric  times  at  home  among  the 

Kelts  of  Ireland  down  to  the  close  of  the  first  Christian  millen- 

* 

nium.  Hence  it  is  not  infrequent  to  find  the  Irish  poet  passing 
from  his  own  Keltic  Saturnian  to  its  Latin  equivalent  within  the 
limits  of  the  same  couplet.  A  striking  example  is  furnished  by 
Colman’s  Hymn  in  the  old  Irish  Liber  Hymnorum : 

vv.  21  ff.  Regem  regum  rogamus  :  :  in  nostris  sermonibus 
anacht  Noe  a  luchtlach  :  :  diluvi  temporibus 

(We  ask  the  king  of  kings  :  :  in  our  prayers, 
who  protected  Noah  with  his  crew  :  :  in  the  times  of  deluge.) 

Melchisedech  rex  Salem  :  :  incerto  de  semine 
ronsoerat  a  airnigthe  :  :  ab  omni  formidine. 

(Melchisedech  king  of  Salem  :  :  of  uncertain  seed 
may  his  prayers  save  us  :  :  from  every  fear.) 

I  have  marked  the  four  main  counts  or  ictuses  in  each  short 
verse,  so  as  to  enable  the  reader  of  this  paper  to  catch  the  rhythm 
of  the  double-word  count.  We  must  also  note  that  a  single  word 


The  Origin  of  Verse 


5 


may  involve  the  double  count ;  e.  g.  rogdmus  and  sermonibus  in 
the  first  couplet.  When  this  occurs,  the  main  counts  of  course  at¬ 
tach  to  the  most  audible  or  heavily  stressed  parts  of  the  word. 
Such  words  are  therefore  measures  or  double  feet,  whereas  a 
word  involving  but  a  single  count  is  a  single  foot,  two  being  there¬ 
fore  necessary  to  make  a  measure. 

It  is  clear  that  a  verse,  in  which  the  foot  and  the  measure,  or 
double  foot,  are  represented  by  the  simple  word  or  an  equiva¬ 
lent  word-group,  bears  the  stamp  of  primitive  and  original  an¬ 
tiquity, — an  antiquity  more  primitive  and  original  than  that  of 
any  known  Indoeuropean  type.  It  evidently  antedates  in  its 
origin  all  that  elaboration  of  rhythmic  structure  which  may  and 
usually  does  accompany  written  verse.  Ancient  Sanskrit,  Aves- 
tan,  and  Greek  verse,  for  example,  comes  before  us  from  the 
first  as  a  more  highly  evolved  type,  and  one  which  in  each  case 
has  been  developed  in  more  or  less  obvious  relation  to  written 
speech.  In  Old-Latin  and  Old-Irish  verse,  on  the  other  hand, 
we  have  the  native  and  original  rhythm  of  the  spoken  word. 
These  earliest  Latin  and  Keltic  monuments,  therefore,  carry  us 
nearer  than  any  others  to  the  morning  of  Indoeuropean  rhythmic 
utterance,  and  promise  to  reveal  to  us,  if  we  can  interpret  them 
aright,  the  long-sought  origin  of  verse,  from  which  all  other 
Indoeuropean  types  may  be  naturally  derived,  but  which  is  itself 
derivable  from  none.  Let  us  try  then  to  uncover  the  secret  that 
lurks  beneath  these  seemingly  barbarous  and  rhythmless  crea¬ 
tions  of  our  prehistoric  and  early-Christian  brethren,  and  see  if 
we  cannot  find  a  simple  principle  of  rhythm  characterizing  them 
all,  and  enabling  us  to  understand  and  appreciate,  as  never  be¬ 
fore,  their  simple,  childlike  art.  Let  us  examine  typical  examples 
from  every  part  of  the  Latin  and  Keltic  prehistoric  field:  we 
shall  find  everywhere  the  word-foot  tetrapody  and  its  equivalent 
tripody  as  the  origin  of  Indoeuropean  verse.  In  exhibiting  the 
rhythm  we  shall  separate  the  feet  by  a  colon,  the  measures  by  a 
single  bar,  and  two  short  verses  in  one  line  by  a  double  bar ;  in  this 
connection  the  foot  implies  one  main  rhythmic  count,  the  measure 
two,  and  the  short  verse  four  or  its  catalectic  equivalent  three. 

The  ancient  Latin  town  of  Prseneste,  modern  Palestrina,  has 
furnished  us  our  oldest  piece  of  Latin,  which  happens  to  be  in 


6 


Tiiomas  FitzHugh 

the  form  of  the  crudest  possible  verse,  inscribed  on  a  golden 
brooch  and*expressed  in  words  and  letters  of  the  most  ancient 
character.  The  mode  of  writing  is  from  right  to  left,  which 
further  evidences  the  primitive  antiquity  of  the  little  ornament. 
It  may  well  belong  to  the  general  period  at  which  the  Latins  first 
acquired  the  art  of  writing  from  Greek  settlers  in  Campania. 
The  primitive  inscription  reads  as  follows : 

Manios  :  med  |  fhefhaked:  Numasioi. 

(Manios  made  me  for  Numasios.) 

It  is  a  prehistoric  Indoeuropean  short  verse  or  dimeter,  consist¬ 
ing  of  two  measures,  and  each  measure  of  two  words.  It  is 
obvious  that  we  have  here  a  phenomenon  of  verse  that  antedates 
what  we  know  as  the  verse-foot  with  its  thesis  and  arsis  and  its 
regular  beat  of  ictus.  The  rhythm  involved  is  not  a  count  ap¬ 
plied  to  certain  syllables,  as  in  all  verse  with  which  we  are  ac¬ 
customed  to  deal,  but  to  the  integral  words,  which  are  sounded 
in  contrasted  pairs. 

The  archaeological  finds  from  Prseneste  are  peculiarly  rich  in 
such  rhythmical  inscriptions,  especially  on  temple  vases,  bronze 
mirrors,  and  jewel-boxes,  and  the  interesting  thing  about  them 
is  that  they  often  illustrate  the  little  two-word  tripudic  measure 
as  well  as  the  longer  three-word  and  four-word  tripudic  dimeter 
or  short  verse.  The  temple  vases  hold  such  two-word  measures 
as  dedications  to  the  particular  deities  to  whose  shrines  they  be¬ 
longed  : 

Laverrrai  :  poculum 
(Laverna’s  vase). 

The  backs  of  Prsenestine  bronze  mirrors  often  have  figures  of 
deities  with  accompanying  tripody  or  tetrapody : 

Venos  :  Diovem  |  Prosepr.ai 
(Venus  (wins)  Jove  for  Proserpine). 

A  Pramestine  jewel-box  bears  on  its  lid  the  following  distich: 

Dindia  :  Macolnia  |  filial  :  dedit. 

Novios  :  Plautios  |  med  Romai  :  fecid. 

(Dindia  Macolnia  gave  (me)  to  her  daughter. 

Novios  Plautios  made  me  at  Rome). 


The  Origin  of  Verse 


7 


The  second  verse  exhibits  a  new  feature :  two  words  med 
Romai  are  taken  together  as  a  single  word-foot,  corresponding 
rhythmically  to  filial  in  the  first  verse. 

The  only  inscriptions  we  have  in  Old-Irish  are  early  Christian 
and  without  intrinsic  interest,  but  the  same  tripudic  measure  and 
double  measure  are  everywhere  in  evidence  as  in  early  Latin, 
and  despite  their  prosaic  purport  we  cannot  resist  the  impression 
of  the  duplicational  word-count  in  their  make  up : 

Lie  :  Luguaedon  |  macci  :  Menueh 
(The  stone  of  Luguaed  son  of  Menb). 

But  the  evidence  becomes  overwhelming  the  moment  we  examine 
Old-Irish  poetry  proper,  where  every  conceivable  type  of  the 
tripudic  word-count  greets  us  at  well  nigh  every  turn : 

(a)  Nida  :  dir  |  dermait  ||  dala  :  cach-rig  j  romdai  =  two  three  word 

dimeters. 

(b)  Enna  :  Labraid  |  luad  :  caich, 
comarc  :  Bresail  |  buain  :  blaith. 

(c)  Nuadu  :  Necht  I  ni  :  damair  :  anflaith  =  a  two-word  followed  by 

a  three-word  measure. 

But  it  is  always  in  connection  with  religion  that  rhythmic 
speech  finds  its  most  spontaneous  inspiration,  with  the  early 
Romans  in  the  worship  of  Mars,  with  the  Irish  Kelts  from  the 
sixth  to  the  ninth  century  after  Christ  in  prayers  and  hymns  to 
Christian  saints  and  martyrs.  Among  the  Romans  the  war-god 
was  the  earliest  focus  of  sacred  song  and  rhythmic  prayer,  and 
it  was  in  this  connection  among  them  that  tripudic  rhythm  in 
song  and  war-dance  assumed  magical  and  religious  significance. 
One  of  these  fragments  preserved  to  us  down  the  ages  from  the 
hymns  of  the  priesthood  of  the  Salii,  or  Leapers,  begins  appar¬ 
ently  with  a  song  of  praise  to  Jove  the  Sky-God: 

Divom  :  Iovem  |  patrem  :  canite 
Divom  :  deo  |  supplicate. 

(Sing  of  Jove,  father  of  gods. 

Bend  the  knee  to  the  god  of  gods.) 

This  little  fragment  is  very  precious,  because  it  pictures  to  us  in 
the  simplest  way  the  first  step  in  the  evolution  of  verse.  In  the 


=  two  four  word  dimeters. 


8 


Thomas  FitzHugh 


first  line  we  have  the  original  four-word  dimeter,  in  the  second 
a  three-word  dimeter,  in  which  the  last  word  supplicate  repre¬ 
sents  two  rhythmical  counts,  one  on  each  acutely  stressed  syllable, 
and  is  therefore  a  word-measure  and  equal  to  two  word-feet. 
This  is  the  first  step  in  the  evolution  of  the  verse-foot  out  of  the 
word-foot.  It  is  moreover  the  last  step  in  the  evolution  of  pre¬ 
historic  verse.  For  on  these  two  simple  principles,  the  principle 
of  the  word-foot  and  the  principle  of  the  word-measure,  the  en¬ 
tire  mass  of  Old-Latin  and  Old-Keltic  verse  is  readily  explained. 

The  origin  of  verse  may  therefore  be  defined  as  a  dimeter  or 
double  measure,  in  which  the  measure  may  be  either  represented 
by  a  pair  of  rhythmically  contrasted  words  or  by  the  two  rhyth¬ 
mically  contrasted  parts  of  one  and  the  same  word.  This  is  the 
origin  of  verse,  and  it  only  remains  for  us  to  test  our  conclusions 
by  applying  them  to  typical  examples  taken  from  the  wide 
range  of  phenomena  at  our  disposal. 

The  most  interesting  of  all  prehistoric  monuments  of  Indo- 
european  rhythm,  and  one  which  has  not  only  revealed  to  us  the 
origin  of  verse,  but  which  has  also  provided  a  wholly  new  and 
at  the  same  time  an  irrefragably  solid  foundation  for  the  science 
of  Indoeuropean  accent,  rhythm,  and  meter,  is  the  famous  Car¬ 
men  Fratrum  Arvalium,  or  Magical  Chant  of  the  Brothers  of 
the  Fields.  This  venerable  old  chant  was  found  recorded  on  a 
marble  slab,  which  was  unearthed  in  1778  on  the  Vatican  hill 
in  Rome,  when  the  foundations  were  being  dug  for  the  Sacristy 
of  St.  Peters.  It  may  now  be  seen  in  the  corridor  of  the  Sacristy 
not  far  from  the  spot  where  it  was  found.  My  special  attention 
was  first  attracted  to  it  by  a  lithographic  copy  of  the  monument 
in  our  Hertz  Library  (Plan  XXXVI  A  in  Ritschl’s  Priscce 
Latinitatis  Monumenta) .  The  slab  is  oblong  in  shape  and  has 
lost  a  fragment  from  the  left  end.  The  inscription  follows  the 
lines  of  the  stone,  being  written  throughout  as  prose  with  noth¬ 
ing  to  indicate  its  rhythmical  nature  or  its  external  shape.  But 
there  were  several  clues  to  begin  with.  In  the  first  place,  the 
introduction  states  that  the  doors  of  the  temple  were  closed,  and 
that  then  the  priests  girt  up  their  robes,  and  taking  in  hand  the 
scrolls  sang  through  the  prayer,  and  danced  in  tripudic  rhythm 
to  the  words.  In  the  second  place,  each  verse  of  the  chant  is 
written  out  three  times,  and  the  whole  is  concluded  with  five 


The  Origin  oe  Verse 


9 


repetitions  of  the  sacred  cult-word  Triumpe,  one  for  each  verse. 
And  finally,  the  central  petition  in  the  prayer  begs  the  god  Mars 
to  stay  his  spear.  Thus  the  evidence  seemed  to  point  in  the  di¬ 
rection  of  some  magical  cryptograph,  and  upon  comparing  the 
relative  lengths  of  the  verses  and  arranging  them  symmetrically 
in  the  center  of  a  scroll  it  became  gradually  apparent,  that  in 
truth  the  whole  was  assuming  the  outline  of  an  inverted  spear: 


Enos  :  Lases  |  iuvate 
Enos  Eases  iuvate 

Enos  Eases  iuvate 

Neve 

:  luem 

|  ruem 

:  Marmar 

|  sinas  :  incurrere 

1  in 

:  pleoris. 

Neve 

luem 

ruem 

Marmar 

sinas  incurrere 

in 

pleoris 

Neve 

luem 

ruem 

Marmar 

sina?  incurrere 

in 

pleoris 

Satur  : 

fu 

fere  :  Mars  | 

[  limen  :  sali 

|  sta  : 

verber 

Satur 

fu 

fere  Mars 

limen  sali 

sta 

verber 

Satur 

fu 

fere  Mars 

limen  sali 

sta 

verber 

Semunis  | 

alternei  ||  advocabitis 

conctos 

Semunis 

alternei 

advocabitis 

conctos 

Semunis 

alternei 

advocabitis 

conctos 

Enos  :  Marmar  (  iuvato 

Enos  Marmar  iuvato 

Enos  Marmar  iuvato 

Triumpe  |  Triumpe 
Triumpe  Triumpe 
Triumpe 

(Help  us,  O  Lares,  and  suffer  not,  O  Mars,  blight  and  ruin  to 
befall  too  many.  Have  thy  fill,  fierce  Mars,  leap  on  the 
threshold,  stay  the  spear.  Call  ye  in  turn  all  the  Semones 
to  our  aid.  Help  us,  O  Mars.  Triumpe.) 

The  record  on  the  marble  concludes  with  the  statement,  that  fol¬ 
lowing  upon  the  tripudic  dance  a  signal  was  given,  and  attend¬ 
ants  came  in  and  took  charge  of  the  scrolls  (post  tripodationem 
deinde  signo  dato  publici  introierunt  et  libellos  receperunt). 

It  would  far  transcend  the  limits  of  this  paper  to  set  forth 
in  detail  the  important  scientific  bearings  of  this  remarkable  relic 
of  prehistoric  antiquity.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  it  shows  the  dupli- 


10 


Thomas  FitzHugh 


cational  word-count  to  be  sacred  to  the  chief  deity  of  the  Rom¬ 
ans,  and  reveals  the  sacred  cult-word  triumpe,  which  means 
O  three-step,  as  the  glorification  of  the  ancestral  rhythm  of  song 
and  dance.  The  same  rhythm  of  the  double  and  triple  word- 
count  marks  the  Keltic  counterpart  to  the  Carmen  Arvale,  the 
Hymn  of  St.  Patrick  a  thousand  years  later  in  Ireland,  where 
we  find  that  the  sacredness  of  the  number  three  has  been  trans¬ 
ferred  from  the  rhythm  of  verse  and  prayer  to  the  Godhead  him¬ 
self,  and  in  place  of  the  magical  spear  we  have  the  magical  collar 
or  breastplate  of  faith. 

The  magical  efficacy  of  rhythm  invades  even  the  prescriptions 
of  codified  law.  Among  our  oldest  fragments  of  Latin  are  the 
remains  of  the  Laws  of  the  Kings,  or  Leges  Regia,  and  of  the 
Twelve  Tables,  or  Leges  Duodecim  Tabularum.  We  are  now 
able  to  understand  why  the  ancients  speak  of  them  as  verses,  or 
carmina,  and  thus  to  get  to  the  bottom  of  the  rhythm  of  Latin 
prose,  which  is  nothing  more  nor  less  than  a  free  continuous 
tripudic  word-count.  Cicero  tells  us  that  in  his  boyhood  (at  the 
beginning  of  the  first  century  before  Christ)  he  and  his  fellows 
were  required  to  commit  the  Laws  of  the  Twelve  Tables  to 
memory  “as  an  obligatory  poem”  (ut  carmen  necessarium).  As 
a  matter  of  course,  all  such  ancient  documents  have  come  down 
to  us  in  sadly  mutilated  and  often  corrupted  text,  but  even  so  we 
can  detect  in  what  is  left  us  unmistakable  suggestions  of  the 
rhythm  of  the  word-foot  and  word-measure.  A  couple  of  these 
fragments,  one  from  the  Leges  Regise  and  one  from  the  Twelve 
Tables,  will  serve  to  illustrate  not  only  the  rhythm  of  the  word- 
count,  but  also  the  fascinating  content  of  this  ancient  legislation : 

A.  Leges  Regiae: 

Si  :  parentem  |  puer  :  verberit 
Ast  :  olle  |  plorassit 
Puer  :  divis  |  parentum 
Sacer  |  esto. 

(If  a  boy  should  strike  his  father,  and  he  should  cry  aloud,  the 
boy  shall  be  dedicate  to  the  Manes  of  his  parents.) 

B.  Duodecim  Tabulae: 

Si  :  nox  |  furtum  :  faxit 
Si  :  im  |  occisit 
lure  :  caesus  |  esto. 

(If  one  should  commit  a  theft  by  night  and  one  should  kill  him, 
he  shall  be  rightly  slain.) 


The  Origin  of  Verse 


11 


Not  only  the  earliest  prescriptions  of  divine  and  human  juris¬ 
prudence,  but  the  lore  of  practical  life  in  general,  whether  as 
maxim  of  thought  and  conduct,  or  as  popular  charm  or  incanta¬ 
tion,  found  instinctive  expression  in  the  tripudic  word-count. 
Indeed,  nowhere  is  the  Roman  spirit  and  native  genius  more 
clearly  portrayed  than  in  the  entire  body  of  these  prehistoric  and 
undatable  fragments.  Everywhere  we  recognize  the  practical 
bent  of  this  world-compelling,  world-ordering  stock,  who  found 
in  the  ordered  count  of  rhythm  the  profoundest  symbol  and  ex¬ 
pression  of  human  and  divine  energy,  and  invoked  its  magical 
efficacy  in  every  possible  relation  of  purposive  action  and  thought. 

The  dawn  of  Roman  tradition  is  marked  by  a  shadowy  figure, 
who  seems  to  have  been  known  as  the  Seer  of  Mars  (Martius 
vates),  and  who  was  reputed  to  have  been  the  first  to  compose 
precepts  of  practical  wisdom  for  the  guidance  of  life.  One  of 
these  wise  sayings  reads  as  follows : 

Postremus  :  dicas  |  primus  :  taceas 
(Be  last  to  speak,  first  to  keep  silence.) 

Thus  philosophy  as  well  as  religion  took  its  first  steps  in  tripudic 
rhythm,  and  we  may  be  quite  sure  that  apart  from  the  formulae 
of  religion  and  law  such  didactic  verse  constituted  the  bulk  of 
Roman  literary  output  in  prehistoric  times.  This  enables  us  to 
understand  why  all  ancient  references  to  this  prehistoric  litera¬ 
ture  speak  of  it  as  verse  (carmina).  Thus  Aldus  Gellius  speaks 
of  a  remarkable  verse  copied  by  Nigidius  Figulus  from  ancient 
poetry  (ex  antiquo  carmine)  : 

Religentem  |  esse  :  oportet  ||  religiosus  |  ne  :  fuas 
(One  must  be  religious,  in  order  not  to  become  superstitious.) 

And  Macrobius  quotes  what  he  calls  an  old  country  ditty  from  a 
volume  of  very  ancient  poetry,  said  to  have  been  composed  before 
everything  written  by  the  Latins  (in  libro  vetustissimorum  car- 
minum,  qui  ante  omnia  quae  a  Latinis  scripta  sunt  compositus 
ferebatur,  invenitur  hoc  rusticum  vetus  canticum)  : 

Hiberno  :  pulvere  |  verno  :  luto  ||  grandia  :  farra  |  camille  :  metes 

(With  winter  dust  and  springtime  mud,  large  the  crops  you’ll  reap, 
my  lad.) 

Such  examples  as  the  last  two  show  us  very  clearly  how  the  Indo- 


12 


Thomas  FitzHugh 


european  long  verse  arose  as  a  rhythmical  contrast  between  two 
short  verses,  thus  making  a  thoroughgoing  application  of  the  du- 
plicational  count  principle  from  the  double  word  and  double 
measure  to  the  double  verse  or  distich,  as  is  so  prettily  illustrated 
in  the  Carmen  Arvale  above. 

The  magical  and  supernatural  virtue  of  the  three-count  is  evi¬ 
denced  especially  by  a  number  of  charms  or  incantations,  which 
have  been  handed  down  by  Roman  antiquarians.  The  most  in¬ 
teresting  of  these  is  one  quoted  by  Varro  in  his  treatise  on  Agri¬ 
culture  as  efficacious  against  pains  in  the  feet : 

Ego  :  tui  |  memini 
Medere  |  meis  :  pedibus 
Terra  :  pestem  |  teneto 
Salus  :  hie  |  maneto 
In  :  meis  |  pedibus. 

(I  remember  you.  Heal  my  feet.  Let  the  ground  hold  the  pest. 

Let  health  stay  here.  In  my  feet.) 

This  had  to  be  chanted  3  times  3  times  3  times  to  accomplish  the 
full  tripudic  cure  (hoc  ter  noviens  cantare  iubet,  terram  tangere, 
despuere,  ieiunum  cantare). 

And  finally,  the  magic  of  tripudic  rhythm  was  invoked  by  Ro¬ 
man  mothers  to  lull  their  babies  to  sleep.  An  ancient  commenta¬ 
tor  on  Persius  records  such  a  tripudic  lullaby : 

Lalla  :  lalla  |  lalla:  i 
Aut  :  dormi  |  aut  :  lacte. 

(Lalla,  lalla,  lalla,  go.  Either  sleep  or  take  your  milk.) 

What  I  have  done  thus  far  has  been  merely  to  present  typical 
examples  from  the  whole  wide  field  of  prehistoric  tradition. 
These  examples  might  be  indefinitely  multiplied,  not  only  from 
Old-Latin,  but  especially  from  a  field  to  which  I  have  only  briefly 
referred,  and  which  is  less  familiar  as  yet  to  Americans,  namely 
Old-Irish.  Every  line  of  verse  from  both  of  these  Indoeuropean 
fields  reveals  the  same  principle  of  the  double  and  triple  word- 
count  with  the  rhythmical  summing  up  in  the  tripudic  word- 
measure.  But  the  triumphant  confirmation  of  our  theory  of  the 
origin  of  verse  greets  us,  when  we  enter  the  portals  of  literary 
history  itself  both  in  Italy  and  in  Ireland,  where  the  old  rhythm 
maintained  itself  with  greater  or  less  tenacity  against  the  charm 


The  Origin  or  Vrrse 


13 


of  the  Greek  muse  and  the  still  more  subtle  change  at  work  in 
the  accentual  system  of  Indoeuropean  speech  in  general.  Latin 
literary  history  begins  about  two  hundred  years  before  Christ 
with  Livius  Andronicus’  Odyssia  and  Gnaeus  Naevius’  Bellum 
Puniciim,  Irish  literary  history  some  thousand  years  later  with 
the  Christian  Hymns  of  Colman,  Fiacc,  Ultan,  Broccan,  Sane- 
tan,  and  St.  Patrick  himself.  The  tripudic  word-count,  often  re¬ 
fined  upon  by  an  instinctive  rhythmical  uniformity  in  the  number 
of  individual  stresses  in  each  line,  furnishes  the  simple  rhythmical 
key  to  all  of  these  monuments  of  pre-Hellenistic  verse,  which 
have  been  made  the  victims  in  modern  philology  of  the  most 
bizarre  constructions,  now  of  “accentual,”  now  of  “quantita¬ 
tive,”  now  (and  worst  of  all)  of  “syllable-counting”  theories. 
A  typical  example  from  each  monument  may  fittingly  conclude 
our  investigation : 

Andronicus’  Odyssey : 

Virum  :  mihi  |  Camena  [|  insece  |  versutum 
(Sing  to  me,  O  Muse,  of  the  versatile  man) 

Naevius’  Punic  War: 

Novem  :  Iovis  j  Concordes  ||  filiae  |  sorores 
(Jove’s  daughters,  harmonious  sisters  nine) 

Colman’s  Hymn : 

Sen  De  :  donfe  |  fordonte  ||  Macc  :  Maire  |  ronfeladar 
(God’s  grace  guide  us,  help  us;  Mary’s  Son  protect  us) 

Fiacc’s  Hymn : 

Genair  :  Patraicc  |  in  Nemthur  ||  iss  ed  :  adfet  |  hiscelaib 
(Patrick  was  born  in  Nemthur:  it  is  that  he  declares  in  story) 

Ultan’s  Hymn : 

Brigit  :  be  [  bithmaith  ||  breo  :  orde  |  oiblech 
(Brigit,  woman  ever  good,  bright  golden  flame) 

Broccan’s  Hymn : 

Ni  car  :  Brigit  |  buadach  :  bith  ||  siasair  :  suide  |  eoin  :  inailt 

(Triumphant  Brigit  loved  not  the  world  :  She  sat  the  seat  of  bird 
on  cliff) 


14 


Thomas  FitzHugh 


Patrick’s  Hymn : 


atomriug  |  indiu 

niurt  :  tren  |  togairm  :  trindoit 

cretim  |  treodatad 

foisitin  |  oendatad 

in  :  duleman  |  dail. 

(I  arise  today  in  strong  might  of  invoking  the  Trinity,  through 
faith  in  the  Threehood,  through  confession  of  the  Oneness, 
of  the  Creator  of  all.) 

Thus  our  prehistoric  hypothesis  is  beautifully  verified  by  histori¬ 
cal  fact.  The  classic  Saturnian  of  Italy  and  Ireland  is  nothing 
but  the  artistic  culmination  of  the  prehistoric  tripudium,  which 
we  saw  so  richly  illustrated  in  the  Carmen  Arvale. 

The  successful  unravelling  of  this  old  verse  has  inaugurated  a 
complete  revolution  in  our  sciences  of  Indoeuropean  accent, 
rhythm,  and  meter.  The  fundamental  truth  revealed  is  the  prin¬ 
ciple  of  the  double  accent  in  speech  and  rhythm.  In  the  light  of 
this  new  truth  we  have  been  able  to  show  that  the  Roman  gram¬ 
marians  with  their  inordinate  zeal  for  things  Hellenic  have  only 
transmitted  to  us  Greek  rules  of  accent,  rhythm,  and  meter,  ac¬ 
commodated  as  best  they  could  to  the  wholly  alien  facts  of  Latin 
speech  and  verse. 

Let  us  sum  up  in  brief  the  results  of  our  inquiry.  Indoeuro¬ 
pean  verse  originated  in  a  tripudic  word-count,  in  which  the  sin¬ 
gle  word  might  represent  either  foot  or  dipody : 


Old-Latin : 

a.  Neve  :  luem  |  ruem  :  Marmar. 

b.  Enos  :  Lases  |  iuvate. 

Old-Irish : 

a.  Enna  :  Labraid  j  luad  :  caich. 

b.  Fergein  :  cotreb  |  cutulsa. 


—  Four  word-feet. 

=  Two  word-feet  -f-  one 
word-measure. 


=  Four  word-feet. 

=  Two  word-feet  -f-  one 
word-measure. 


The  Indoeuropean  long  verse  originated  in  a  union  of  two  short 
verses : 


Old-Latin: 

a.  Virum  :  mihi  |  Camena  |]  insece  ]  versutum. 

Old-Irish : 

a.  Genair  :  Patraicc  inNemthur  ||  issed  :  adfet  hiscelaib. 


> 


7 


The  Origin  of  Verse 


15 


The  origin  of  verse  is  therefore  to  be  recognized  in  the  prehistoric 
rhythm  of  the  word-foot  and  word-measure  or  tripudium.  This 
word-count  continued  in  historical  times  as  the  rhythm  of  prose. 
The  verse-foot  and  verse-measure  or  dipody  of  historical  verse 
were  evolved  out  of  the  word-foot  and  word-measure  of  primi¬ 
tive  verse.  In  previous  Bulletins  (Nos.  1-7)  I  have  shown  the 
accentual  and  metrical  implications  of  tripudic  rhythm  (Ander¬ 
son  Bros.,  University  of  Virginia,  1908-1912). 


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